The invention relates to a device for the removal of the internal organs of slaughtered poultry, comprising a spoon which is attached to the end of an oblong carrier, is pivotable about an axis lying transversely on the longitudinal axis of the carrier, and has a rounded front edge and a longitudinal slot running in the longitudinal direction of the spoon and opening in a widened entry section. A device of this type is known per se.
In a step preceding this removal of the entrails, the head has already been pulled off the neck. In this step, the gullet breaks between crop and beak and the windpipe breaks close to the fork to the lungs. The gullet part between crop and gizzard, which crosses the spine at a sharp angle at the position of the windpipe fork, must remain intact and come to rest in the longitudinal slot when the spoon is turned over. In order to achieve this and at the same time to prevent one front edge of the spoon, after the latter has been turned over, from pressing against the gullet and damaging the latter--as a result of which the gullet breaks at the point of damage during removal and the crop is left behind in the bird--the front edge of a known spoon has already been designed with a greatly widened V-shaped entry section. This however reduces the effective width of the front edges of the spoons and causes difficulties during removal of the lungs. Shortening the spoon halves the risk of damage to the gullet, however extracting the lungs is impaired in this case also.